Cobham Hall is an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

in the county of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, England. The

grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

building is one of the largest and most important houses in Kent, re-built as an Elizabethan

prodigy house Prodigy houses are large and showy English country houses built by courtiers and other wealthy families, either "noble palaces of an awesome scale" or "proud, ambitious heaps" according to taste. The prodigy houses stretch over the period ...

William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham Sir William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham, KG (1 November 1527 – 6 March 1597), lord of the Manor of Cobham, Kent, was Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and a member of parliament for Hythe. Although he was viewed by some as a religious radica ...

(1527–1597). The central block was rebuilt 1672–82 by Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox (1639–1672). Today the building houses Cobham Hall School, a private boarding school for girls, established there in 1962, which retains of the ancient estate. The historic dairy, designed by the architect

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

as an eyecatcher, was restored by the Landmark Trus

and opened as a holiday destination in 2019.

Building history

There has been a

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with ...

on the site since the 12th century. The current building consists of a pair of Tudor wings built for The 10th Baron Cobham in the 16th century and a later classical central block, the 'Cross Wing', remodelled in 1661–63 by Peter Mills of London for The 3rd Duke of Richmond. In the 18th century, the Hall passed to the Bligh family, later Earls of Darnley. The attic storey was extended and other alterations made for The 3rd Earl of Darnley by Sir William Chambers, ca 1767–70 A kitchen court was added to the rear in 1771–73. The most notable feature of the interior is the two-storey Gilt Hall, designed and installed by George Shakespear, master carpenter and architect, of London, who made extensive interior alterations, 1770–81. The organ was built by John Snetzler in 1778–9. The fourth earl, who inherited in 1781, employed

extensively, for interiors that included the Picture Gallery and the Dining Room, and for stables and a Gothic dairy. The Library was fitted up by

George Stanley Repton George Stanley Repton (1786–1858) was an English architect. George Stanley, the fourth son of Humphry Repton, was a pupil of the Anglo-French architect Augustus Charles Pugin, and entered the office of John Nash, becoming one of his chief a ...

in 1817–20, and with his brother, John Adey Repton, in Jacobethan style, including the ceiling for "Queen Elizabeth's Room" (1817). Their father, Humphry Repton, was hired to design a landscape plan for the estate and completed one of his famous 'Red Books' for Cobham in 1790. Cobham Hall remained the family home of the Earls of Darnley until 1957 and is now home to the school. It is open to the public on a limited number of days each year. The building has been used as a film set. A scene in '' Agent Cody Banks 2'' in which

Frankie Muniz Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award n ...

fights Keith Allen in a room full of priceless treasures was filmed in the Gilt Hall. Scenes from an adaption of ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, an ...

'' were also filmed outside the building, and it was also used in a few scenes in the comedy sketch show '' Tittybangbang''. The Hall is used as the school 'Abbey Mount' in the 2008 film ''

Wild Child Wild child usually refers to a feral child; it may also refer to: Film and television *'' The Wild Child'', a 1970 French film directed by François Truffaut * ''Wild Child'' (film), a 2008 teen comedy starring Emma Roberts * "Wild Child" (''R ...

'' starring Emma Roberts and as the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word " hospita ...

in the CBBC adaptation of '' Hetty Feather''.

Family owners

Families who have owned the manor include the Cobham family ( Barons of Cobham), the Stewart family ( Earls of Lennox), and the Bligh family ( Earls of Darnley).

References

External links

{{coord, 51, 23, 40, N, 0, 25, 07, E, type:landmark, display=title Grade I listed buildings in Kent Gravesham Country houses in Kent Grade I listed houses in Kent Manors in Kent Bligh family Gardens by Humphry Repton

Building history

Family owners

References

Further reading

External links